When Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds asked David Archuleta to perform at the 2022 LoveLoud Festival — a music event that helps unite LGBTQ+ youth and their families — Archuleta recalls being so nervous, he had a panic attack.
“It was so scary. I used to present myself to this community in such an opposite way, like [representing] conservative values and being a good Mormon,” Archuleta said. “Basically what I thought: Doing the right thing was to not be queer.”
But Archuleta, who came out shortly before his 2022 performance, swept the arena with a powerful performance and heartfelt speech. He then came back to the festival in 2023. As the years have gone by, the man who appeared to be a quintessential Latter-day Saint has become more open about his sexuality.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) David Archuleta performs at the LoveLoud Festival at Vivint Arena, on Saturday, May 14, 2022.
Now, Archuleta is set to return home to Utah to perform at a different festival that also celebrates the LGBTQ+ community: the Utah Pride Festival. It will be Archuelta’s first performance at the annual event.
“It’s a very big deal for me. It’s where I grew up,” Archuleta said. “It’s where all my family still lives.”
Headlining Utah Pride seems to be the next step in Archuleta’s yearslong journey of self-discovery and acceptance. Last year, he started telling his own story through his music, particularly with his single “Hell Together.” The ballad chronicles how his mother, a then-devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, handled his coming out.
“It’s a very different side of me,” he said, “that I’m now getting to know and showing and sharing with people.”
Coming back to Utah to perform as an out and queer artist is something Archuleta is proud to do, especially as he’s struggled with his identity through the years.
“Now it’s like I’m the one who’s come out and learned to embrace myself and [have] come [to] reach out to the community,” he said. Archuleta said he knows about self-doubt and hopes he can be an example for those struggling with “all you were taught in Utah [and] with the Latter-day Saint beliefs.”
Archuleta has performed at pride festivals across the country, including in Phoenix and Fort Worth, Texas. This year, he’ll also perform in Oklahoma City and Pittsburgh.
Choosing to perform at the Utah Pride Festival now, Archuleta said, is a result of him taking time and space from the state to grow.
“I’m cool with being myself now here in L.A., or if I go elsewhere to different Prides and to different parts of the country,” Archuleta said. “But when I go to Utah, it’s like a part of me sees that little boy again because I’m around the people that conditioned me to be who I was before …. I needed some time to remove myself from the shame I was so used to feeling.”
(Irvin Rivera) David Archuleta, a Utah musican, poses for a photo.
Now, he feels like he doesn’t “have to hide that part of me anymore.”
As for his set at Utah Pride, Archuleta said audience members will see the “flirty era of David Archuleta.”
“They’ll see a show that they haven’t seen David do,” he said. “I’m a little more comfortable in my own skin. There’s confidence. I feel more in touch with my sensuality, my sexy side, and that’s fun to do.”
This is apparent in his music, too. In the music video of his single “Crème Brulée,” Archuleta dances and gets in touch with his Latin roots. In “Can I Call You,” he takes a more passionate songwriting approach.
Archuleta said both his family and friends are coming to Utah Pride, people “who didn’t understand the queer experience before.”
“We’ve all grown to look at [queerness] in a different way than what we were told,” Archuleta said. “And now we’re going to pride all together, something I could have never fathomed 10 years ago.”
Archuleta will perform at Utah Pride on Sunday, June 8, at 4 p.m. on the festival’s south stage.
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